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Part 5: Front Suspension
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Next, I moved to the front suspension. I had left the old motor in to act as ballast when picking the correct spring rate for the new coil overs. The new Fatman Fabrications parts are bolted up and ready to check. Note the open ended cross member that had been installed in 1990. The thick walled tube spacer inside the cross member came with the lower control arm. This is a must to strengthen the cross member at this high stress point. After experiencing a bolt failure in my 36 Ford Coupe's lower control arm, I have gone back and welded a plate in to close and strengthen this cross member end. This will be a regular inspection point for any signs of cracking or deformation. The nasty looking junk on the bottom of the frame aft of the header pipe is the remains of the old strut rod mount. There was some cracking in this area of the frame that I repaired with stop drilling, welding and then scab plating after the engine was removed.




It took three tries to get the right coil overs. Fatman's technician recommended one spring rate, Carrera's technician recommended another and I calculated another. Well, Fatmans was right, but guess what Cast Iron Head did before trying his!




Finally have the front suspension parts the way I wanted them. Now it's time to remove everything from the frame and tackle the cross member mod.




Click here for Part 6: Cross Member Modification


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